Luna Innovations Germany Gmbh

Lios Technology Gmbh

Alexander Rath

Wieland Hill

Benjamin Marx

Thorben Jostmeier

Stefan Breuer

A distributed sensing apparatus based on Optical Time Domain Reflectometry, OTDR, including an optical source; an optical splitter in optical communication with the optical source, the optical splitter having first and second outputs; a sensing fibre in optical communication with the first output of the optical splitter; a combining unit arranged to combine a reference signal derived from the second output of the optical splitter with a backscattered signal derived from the sensing fibre, wherein the combining unit comprises one or more 3&#xd7;3 fused fibre couplers; and a signal processing unit configured for processing information derived from the combining unit so as to provide distributed sensing data. The combining unit includes a polarization diversity arrangement including one or more polarization sensitive elements.

Distributed sensing apparatus

A sensor system for detection and localisation of changes in or values for at least one environmental condition includes a source of pulses of electromagnetic radiation, wherein the source is configured to emit electromagnetic radiation at a plurality of different wavelengths, an optical fibre in optical communication with the source of pulses, wherein the optical fibre includes a fibre Bragg grating having a reflectance and/or transmittance which varies in dependence on the at least one environmental condition, and a detection unit for detecting electromagnetic radiation which has been reflected or transmitted by the fibre Bragg gratings, wherein the detection unit is configured for detecting electromagnetic radiation at the plurality of wavelengths, such that a spectral response can be determined for different spatial regions along the optical fibre, wherein a change in or value for the environmental condition at a spatial region may be determined by monitoring the respective spectral response.

Sensor system

Device for spatially resolved measurement of temperature, strain, or both by Brillouin scattering, with a laser light source () for generating a laser radiation, an optical fiber () used for the measurement, into which the laser radiation can be coupled in and from which Brillouin signals generated by Brillouin scattering can be coupled out, sensors for detecting the coupled-out Brillouin signals, evaluators for determining spatially resolved from the detected Brillouin signals the temperature, strain, or both of sections of the optical fiber (), a polarization beam splitter () capable of splitting the coupled-out Brillouin&#x2014;signals into two components () having mutually different polarizations, and an optical coupler () for admixing a laser radiation to the Brillouin signal.

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Cologne, Germany

Alexander Rath